“I had a resume kicked back because someone thought I was kidding,” said Saucedo, who has lived on the street in this suburb about a dozen miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles for eight years..

Ester Avetisian, who moved there 18 years ago, said she might have thought twice if there had been a sign in those days marking the road tucked into what is still a semi-rural section of town where people keep goats and chickens in their back yards..